Car heater



Mayas, 1925. l1,539,160

E. P. COLE CAR HEATER Filed March 12', 1920 2 sheets-sheet 2 Patented May 26, 1925.

UNITED 'STATES i yLainate PATENT OFFICE. l

EDWARD P. COLE, OF CHICGO, ILLINOIS, ASSIG-NOl't TO COLE MANUFACTURING COMPANY, 0F CHICGO, ILLINOIS, A CORPORATION.

CAR HEATER.

T0 all whom t may concern.' p

Be it known that I, Eem-inni). COLE, a citizen of the United States, and a resident of Chicago, county of Cook, and State of Illinois, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Car Heaters, of which the following is a specification.y

My invention has reference more particularly to a heater of the type which usually made in a portable form and used in freight cars or other compartments containg materials suoli as fruits and vegetables, to maintain a temperature in the car or compartment, during cold weather, which will prevent freezingor damage to the con tents of theear or compartment.

These heaters are used particularly in cars during transportation, and therefore necessitate a construction which will contain an ample supply of fuel and automatically `feed same onto a grate or into a fire-box so as to furnish heat continuously rduring the period of transportation, without attention, and such heaters have suitable yprovision for draught which will effect free combustion of the fuel and regulate the heat so that the heating is uniform during thetimetha-t the heater is in operation.

The principal objects ofniy invention are to providean improved heater of thischaractor having the necessary requirements as to storage capacity and regulation of ooinbastion, and in which the'contents are securely confined to prevent escape of ignited or burning particles of fuel therefron'i; to provide ezine to the combustion chainherthanherctofore employed in heaters of this charar. ter; to provide a. special form of valve for` closing such larger opening, wherein the" valve isA arranged to occupy a restricted space within the heater when in the open position; to provide an improvedarrange ment of draft openings; to preventexcessivo pre-heating of the fuel before it isdeposited into the coi'nhustion chamber; to provide heater which' may be conveniently ta ren" apart and assembled and in which the removable' parts are securely lool/:ed in the `proper position when the heater is assembled; and in generalto provide an improved cai' heater of this character which is economical to manufacture, more reliable, `and safer to use a. larger opening from the fuel mag On the drawings, Fig. 1 is a Vvertical seotional view ofa car heater embodying my .improvementsg Fig. 2, a transverse sectional view on theline 2 2 of Fig `1; Fig. 3, a.

top view of the'valve housing with the top :plate removed and showing `the valves in `theclosed position; Fig. 4, a sectional view through valves and valve housing on the line 4 4 of Fig. 1; Fig. 5, a sectional view on the line 5 5 of Fig. 1 showing the door opening and the door, and Fig. 6, a fragmentary top view of the heater showing the manner of attaching the 4cover for closing theinlet to the fuel maga-Zine.

Referring Vto Vthe drawings, the reference numeral 1 indicatesthe outer shell or casing of the heater which is cylindrical in form and may be circumferentia'lly corrugated for a portion of its length, as shown, if desired, and has atop 2 seouredto and closing one end thereof. The other or lowerend of the casing'l is reinforced by an angleiron V3 which extendslaround `and is secured to under the edge of the casing 1, as shown in y Fig. l. y p

The upper portion of thecasing serves as a magazine for fuel and has a ring 5 riveted or otherwise-s cured to the inside of the casing wall 1, near the bottom of the maga-- Zine, said ring `being bent inwardly at the lower. end as indicated at 6, to afford a taper lit witlrtlie upper end of a hopper 7 which is mounted directly therebelow.

This hopper tapers downwardly to a central opening, andprojeets into the upper end of a cylindrical shell 8, said shell being of less diameter than the casing 1 so as to provide an annular exhaust passageway 10 therebetween. At Athe base of the hopper, and somewhat above the lower end of the vshell, S, is a partition consisting of the valve housing 11-12 and a split heat insulating ring 13, composed of spaced plates with insulating material suoli as asbestos interposed therebetween. The plates 1:1 and 19. of the valve 4lii'iusing are secured together to form a valve slideway therebetween andp'the former at its inner end has a large opening therethrough surrounded by a horizontal vflange 15 to which the split ring 13 is secured, and an. upright flange 16 to which the lower endof the hopper 7 is ksecured so as to discharge through the open nii 14;

liti

which latter is adapted to be controlled by the sectional valve 17-18 mounted in the slideway between the plates 11 and 12. The plates 11 and 12 are secured to the wall of the shell 8 in any convenient nranner as by riveting or bolting a flange 19 of the upper plate 11 to the shell wall, and the partition 13 is held in place in the shell by having the periphery thereof engaged in a circumferential groove on the inside of the shell, formed by corrugating the shell wall at 20. This construction just described forms an insulating space or chamber 21 around the hopper 7 which together with theinsulating partition serves to prevent excessive preheating of Ithe fuel in the hopper by the heat of the combustion chamber below the partition 18, the chamber being ventilated by vertically spaced rows of perforations 22 and 23 in the wall of the shell 8.

It will be observed that the width or diameter of the opening 11 is somewhat greater than the distance from the periphery of said opening` to the casing wall 1 and as it is desired to employ a valve which entirely opens or closes the outlet 1st and at the same time contain the valve within the casing 1 when in the open position, I have provided the sectional valve 17-18 above mentioned. The plates 11 and 12 are, of course, wide enough to accommodate valve sections of sufficient width to entirely cover the opening 1t and each has a spacing flange 211 at each side which separates the plates sufficiently to permit freedom of movement of the valve sections. The lower plate 12, over which the lower valve section 18 slides, is cut away below the opening 141, as indi-- cated at 32 in Fig. 3, and has extensions 25 at each side of the opening with guide flanges 2G thereon engaging under the lateral edges of the section 1S to support saine whenI moved to the closed position. The inner end of this section 18 ina-y be rounded, as indicated at 27, if desired, and has the edge tapered to facilitate closing. The outer end of said section is curved, a. indicated at 2S, to confor-in to the curvature of the casing wall 1 and thus enable the valve section to be fully withdrawn, and has a depending lug` 29 extending outwardly and bifurcated to receive the end of a handle 30 which is secured to the bifurcated extremity of the lng 29 by a pivot pin 31'. The plate 12 is formed with a central groove or recess 33 extending in the direction of movement of the valve, to accommodate the lug 29 and also the handle 30 when the valve is closed.

The upper valve section 17 is supportedA channel 35 in the under face of the section 17. The section 17 is centrally arched to form this channel 35 and the plate 11 correspondingly arched toreceive the arched portion of the section 17, and the channel 35 is closed at the inner and outer ends by end walls 3G and 37 respectively against which the lug 34 engages to effect operation of the upper valve section. The inner end of the valve section 17 may be straight, if desired, as indicated at 38 in Fig. 3, and the edge beveled to facilitate closing, and the outer end is convexly curved to conform to the curvature of the casing wall 1 and enable said section to be fully withdrawn from the opening 141.

The plate 11 of the valve housinghas an outwardly extending lug 39 which projects through the wall of the casing, said wall being provided with an opening tO for this purpose which is also sufficiently large to receive the valve lug 29 and handle 30 therethrouglnv and the lng 539 may le apertured as at 11 to receive a pin or other fastener to engage the end of the handle 30 and lock the valve in the closed position. The end of the handle is enlarged at t3 so that when the valve is closed, said enlarged portion fits close in the opening in the casing wall through which the handle is inserted.

A cylindrical shell 42 of suitable dialneter to afford a fairly close sliding fit in the easing 1 is inserted in the lower end of `the latter and has an inturned flange 81 around the ripper end which seats against an annular internal corrugation 5G in the wall of the casing 1 and prevents admission of air to the exhaust passageway 10 from between the casings 1 and 112. This shell 1-2 has al tape-red or hopper shaped wall all inserted in and secured to the uppe- 'end thereof and terminating in a large eentral opening, directly below the opening 111. A plurality of brackets d5 mounted on the exterior of the wall 414e have inwardly e5;- tending stems 1G on which a conical grate vt7 is inounted, the latter being formed with slots or apertures 18 for ash deposit and draught circulation. The grate t7 is of less diameter than the opening at the lower end of the wall 114 and this leaves a space t9 therebetween which also serves to permit ash deposit and afford circulation, and the wall 44e has j ie-rforations G1 adjacent the lower end for the same purpose.

The lower end of the shell L12 is closed by an insulating partition which is spaced sufficiently below the grate 417 to leave ample room for ash deposit. This partition comprises an upper disc having a down turned annular flange 51 which engages snugly within and is secured to the end of the shell 42. Spaced below the disc 50 an-:l secured against the lower edge of the flange 5i is a partition comprising a pair t spaced plates with interposed sheet of heatinsulating material, such as asbestos. Secured to the disc around the edge thereofis a lplurality of legs 53 each `of which has an intiirned angular portion `54atgthe iipperend secured to the disc 52 by rivets or Vin any other substantial manner, and an outturned 'portion 55 at the lower end which engages under theangle iron 3. p The intermediate upright portions of the legs engage closely against the upright flange of the angle iron 3 and are secured to the casing wall by bolts 57 whereby the heater is securely locked in the assembled form. These legs 53 hold the bottom 50-52 well above the lower end of the casing 1, so as to avoid communication of heat from the ash pit to the floor on which the heater is supported, such communicationfof heat being further prevented by the provision of a large number of pe'rforations 60 in the wall of the casing 1 below the lpartition S0-52 which thoroughly ventilate the space below said partition.- i

Air for effecting combustion fis `admitted to the ash chamber through openings 58 and respectively in the walls 42 and 1 spaced well above the "bottoni of the ash chamber. The wall 1 is :formed with an external annular corrugation 82 with the perforatioiis 59 in the upper slope thereof and the perforations 58 in the wall 42 arranged near the bottom of the corrngation andpreferably in horizontal staggered relation, Iso as to permit free admission of airand at the same time. prevent any possibility of sparks from lthe ash chamber lreaching the' exterior of the casing. Outlet from the combustion chamber `for .the combustion gases is afforded by. a plurality of perforations 62 in the shell 8 below the partition 1S which discharge into'the passageway 10 between the shell 8 and casingwall 1, 'and openings 68 in the wall 1 at theupper end of the annular passageway 8 lead to the exterior of the heater.

For affording access to the ash pit below thcgrate 47, the casing wall 1 and shell 42 are providediwith matching `openings 64 and 65 closed by a door 66 which is mount-- ed in a frame 67 provided with flanges 68 at each side of thel opening overlapping the edges of the door 6G so that the latter may slide vertically to open andclose theinlet to the ash chamber. The frame `G7 is formed with a flange `or abutment 69 `at the bottom against which the door closes -and the door has a handle -70 foroperation thereof.

Access is hadk to the fuel 'magazine 71 through an opening 72 in the top wall`2 which is closed by a centrally .depressed cover y78 having a fiange 74, which over-- laps the top 2 around the opening v72. A strap 75 has a. depressed portion 7G adja- "cent 'each end secured to the cover. Vas to lafford a raised intermediate portion 77 to sera/e as a handle, andthe ends of this strap project beyond the `periphery of the cover 73,` as indicated at 78 so that they `may be engaged under opp'ositcly extending plates l7901i the topv 2 for locking the covering in the closed position.

This heater is adapted to be set up on `the. car floor or suspended `from the ceilfis inserted Vwith the` flange .at the upper end ofthe hopper `7 engaged against the V tapered fiange 6 ofthe'ring 5 and with the `lng 39` inserted through 'the aperture 40 of the casing wall 1. l/Jhen insert-ing this valve section the valve is closed so that the handle BO'is vpushed in and permits insertion fof fthe lug 39y and outer end. of the handle through theJ aperture 40. Afterthc valvesection has been mounted in the described position, the bottom section 42 `is inserted in place with the door opening G5 thereof vregistering a'door opening 64 of 'the casing wall 1 and removably secured in place by thebolts 57. In this position the w`all:44 engages against the lower edge Vof the shell 8 and cooperates with the tapered flange 6 to centerand hold the valve section inproperI positioninthe casing l, and the jinturned upperedge 81 of the casing 42"engages the corrugation 56. Byy removing the bolts 57, the internal parts of the'heaterfthatgisthe hopperand valve section or unit and the eombii'ied'fire-pot and ash-pit section or unit, can be readily removed for renewals and repairs.l

the'handle BOhangs downwardly when the valve is open and thereby holds the valve against accidental closing, the lower section 18 being directly lheld by :the handle andthe upperfsection 17 being heldin the open position by engagement of the end wall 37 ofthe channel 85 with the ylng 34. Toclose the` valve,v the. `handle 30 is lifted iipontlie upper valve section 17 is moved inwardly with the valve section '18 until i theopening 14 is entirely closed. In opening'thevalveythe outwardniovement of the handleBO first drawsthe -valve section 18 outwardly until the `lug 84 engages against 'the wall 87, whereupon zthe valve section 17 is moved outwardly so that both sections lVithvthe valvestructure shown hereiin,110

are entirely withdrawn from the opening 14. By using a valve of this chara-cter, the opening 14 may be of large diameter and at the same time the valve controlling same which, if a single valve, would necessarily extend outside the casing l in the open position, is contained entirely within the casing wall l in the open position.

IVhile I have shown and described my invention in a framed form, I am aware that various changes and modifications may be made therein without departing from the principles of my invention, the scope of which is to be determined by the appended claims.

I claim as my invention:

l. In a heater of the class described, the combination of a casing having a ycombustion chamber, a fuel magazine thereabove with a bottom tapering to a discharge opening which leads into the upper end of ihe combustion chamber, a shell spaced from the wall of the casing and said tapered bottom and forming a draft passageway from the combustion chamber separated from the tapered bottom by an air space, and a horizontal partition mounted in said shell adjacent the lower end of the tapered bot-tom, and separatingl the air space from the combustion chamber.

2. In a heaterl ofthe class described, the combination of a casing having a combustion chamber and a fuel magazine above and provided with a discharge spout leading into the combustion chamber, a shell providing an annular draft passage-way around and spaced from the spout, and a horizontal partition extending outwardly from the lower end of the spout to said shell, the combustion chamber having draft outlet means below the partit-ion and leading into the lower end offsaid draft passage-way at a distance from the spout.

3. In a heater of the class described, the combination of au upright casing having a combustion chamber at its lower end and a fuel magazine at its upper end provided with a hopper bottom leading into the combustion chamber, .'aid casing having discharge outlets for the products of combustion adjacent the upper end of said hopper bottom and partition walls extending about said hopper bottom and enclosing same from the lower to the upper end thereof so as to form an insulating a-ir space therearound and cover the top of the combustion chamber and an annular draft passage-way leading from t-he combustion chamber to said discharge outlets.

4. In a heater of the class described, the combination with an upright casing having a combustion chamber at the bottom and a fuel magazine there-above with a spout leading into the combustion chamber, lan annular draft passageway around and spaced from the spout, a horizontal partition eX- tending around the lower end of the spout and forming the top of the combustion chamber, draft outlets in the lateral walls of the combustion chamber below the partition leading from the upper end of the combustion chamber, to the draft passageway and a valve for controlling the supply of fuel from the fuel magazine to the comsaid spout, grate and insulated bottom in spaced relation to provide a combustion chamber and ash-pit, and common fastening devices for removably securing said insulated bottom, grate, spout and spacing means in position.

6., In a heater of the class described, the combination of an upright casing having a magazine at the top, and a removable casing telescoping within the bottom and providing` an ash chamber and grate surface, a removable section between the magazine and said removable casing forming an annular draft passageway within the casing from the combustion chamber and having a partition forming the top of the combustion chamber and provided with a spout leading from the magazine through said partition, a valve for controlling the supply of fuel from the magazine to the combustion chamber and means for simultaneously locking the removable section and the removable casing in the upright casing.

7. In a heater of the class described, the combination of an upright casing having an internal ring spaced from its upper end, a lower section comprising a lire-pot and ashpit. removably secured at the lower end of said casing and a separate spout section forming a hopper bottom for said fuel magazine and removably held in position by said lower section with its upper edge in engagement with said ring.

8. In a heater of the class described, the combination of an upright casing having an internal ring spaced from its upper end, a lower section comprising a fire-pot and ashpit removably secured at the lower end of said casing and a separate spout section forming a hopper bottom for said fuel magazine and removably held in position by said lower section with its upper edge in engagement with said ring, the latter and said lower section having conical surfaces for engaging and centering said hopper section.

lll() 9. In a heater of the class described, the combination of an upright, cylindrical casing having an internal ring spaced from its upper end and draft outlets adjacent and below said ring, alower section comprising a fire-pot and ash-pit removably securedl within the lower end of said casing, a shell above said lower section, a spout having a valve-Controlled discharge opening, mounted on said shell and forming the hopper bottom of a fuel magazine in the upper portion of said casing, said spout and said shell being removably held in position` by said lower section with the upper edgev of said spout engaging said ring and with said shell' spaced from the wall of said casing to provide an annular draft passage leading from the fire-pot to said draft outlets. Y

lO. heater of the class described comprising an upright outer casing having a fuel magazine in its upper portion, a lower] section comprising a fire-pot and ash-pit removably secured within the lower end Vof said outer casing, and a spout section above `said lower section and removably held in position thereby, said spout section compris-y ing a hopper bottom for -tlie fuel magazine having a valve-controlled discharge opentointo insulate the sameand provide an aning and walls spaced from said hopper bot-` having a fuel magazine in its upper portion,

said magazine being provided with a hopper bottom having a valvecontrolled discharge opening, a cylindrical, combined lire-pot and ash-pit section snugly fitting within the lower end of said casing and removably secured thereto, said section having an insulated bottom above the lower edge of said outer casing and a fuel-supporting grate .above said bottom and s aced from said hopper bottom to provice a combustion chamber, said section and said outer casing having staggered air inlets and registering door openings, and a door for closing said openings, said-outer casing having draft outlets adjacent theupper portion of saidV hopper bottoni and the latter having spaced walls for insulating the saine from the com` bustion chamber and for directing the prod ucts'of combustion to said draft outlets.

EDWARD r. coLE, 

